Kukla's Korner Hockey

They are the smartest guys in the room and if you gave them a choice between losing money and losing a player, the members of the Wild brain trust would go for losing the player every time.

Thus, there might be a tinge of front office disappointment that the Wild will be losing the most dynamic player in franchise history and get nothing in return, but you can be assured that Doug Risebrough and his minions will spend much time congratulating themselves for not committing to a long-term contract for many millions to Marian Gaborik….

The best bet today is Gaborik has played his last game for the Wild. He’ll hit the market this summer with two surgically repaired hips, sign a one-year contract with a contending team—such as Marian Hossa did with Detroit—and re-establish himself as a star.

The Wild? Lemaire will get his lads to play even more defense and keep his team on the cusp of playoff contention over the next two months. Then, as the March 4 trade deadline approaches and other teams yield prospects for reinforcements, Risebrough will strike.

A year ago, the acquisition was Chris Simon, a misunderstood gentleman now trying to start World War III in the Russian league. The prediction here is that this is the move Risebrough has on his hip, so to speak:

He’s going to bring in at the cost of nothing another misunderstood chap—Sean Avery.